


Widow's Walk

by Fericita



Category: Frozen (2013)
Genre: 1800s sailing, Alternate Universe, Anna and Elsa (Disney) are Siblings, F/M, OR IS IT, Sailor Kristoff, Scientist Kristoff, So Don't Worry the Title isn't a spoiler, Widow's Walk is a balcony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-09-13 13:18:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16893342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fericita/pseuds/Fericita
Summary: Anna mets Arctic explorer Kristoff shortly before he goes off on a long expedition.





	Widow's Walk

**Author's Note:**

  * For [http://kristanna.tumblr.com/](/gifts?recipient=http%3A%2F%2Fkristanna.tumblr.com%2F).



Sometimes Anna stood there, holding Baby facing out and pointing out the harbor seals or a surfacing humpback whale. She kept up a steady stream of words and songs, trying to fill up the empty spaces his leaving left behind.

Sometimes she tucked Baby against her, and walked up and down the wooden planks. When Baby was fussy or teething, it was the one spot that always calmed them both. They would walk and walk, breathing deeply of the salt air.

Sometimes Anna cried, grateful that the sounds of the waves washed away the sound of her tears. She’d wipe her eyes quickly, take a deep breath, and return inside to check on Baby.

Always, always, she scanned the horizon one last time before going back into the house, searching for his ship. 

—-

It always seemed windy up there on the Widow’s Walk. When she and Elsa were young, it felt like an exotic place – a secret clubhouse their parents never intruded. Elsa would go up there even in the winter; the cold never bothered her. Anna loved to go up when it was sunny and point her face to the sky, open her arms wide, and say “AH! It’s a BEAUTIFUL day!” She would go up when it was cold too, though she was more often looking for Elsa and companionship on those days. 

Often the Widow’s Walk was the only view the girls had of the town – their parents, overprotective and rich, had a rotating cast of nannies and governesses keeping them inside and away from the rough sailors just visible from their home. 

—

She first saw him from the Widow’s Walk. She watched as he loaded up cargo onto a ship with "Maud" inscribed on it. She asked Elsa about it that night.

“It’s an explorer vessel, going to the Arctic to look for a northeast passage. Not one of our ships. They will be in port for a while.”

Anna thrilled at this. An explorer! Going to new lands! Learning new things! Would they find people living there? New animals? It was so much more interesting to think about than their family shipping business. She knew she should help Elsa more, but it was so boring to look at the same crates every day and make sure the right number got on the right ship at the right time. She thought she might go cross-eyed if Elsa put her on inventory again.

She went for a walk the next day, after spotting him from the Widow’s Walk. She rather awkwardly ran into him, and then rather awkwardly grabbed his forearm and then his shoulder as she tried to keep from falling over. He stammered an apology and steadied her on her feet. 

“I see you are with the ship going to the Arctic! What do you think you’ll find there?”

He looked at her, a bit longer than was strictly polite she thought, and answered “Ice.”

She laughed and he smiled, and then they talked until the lighthouse flickered to life and reminded them of the world outside of themselves. She came the next day and the next, and it turned into her daily routine. Each time she expected him to be tired of her chatter and questions, but he never was. He always turned red a bit at the sight of her, and two times now had held his coat over her head when rain surprised them. 

“You know Mother and Father never liked us talking to sailors,” Elsa reminded her at dinner the night after the second rainfall.

“He’s not really a sailor, he’s an explorer! A scientist! He knows so much about the Arctic and the flora and fauna and he even lived with the Inuit for a time – those are Eskimos, but the right word for them. He knows it because he’s a scientist!” 

Elsa smiled and rolled her eyes playfully. “How long is this vastly important and impressive expedition?”

“A year. Maybe two depending on weather and whether or not they find the passage and if they can go through it, and if they can make it back before it gets even colder, or if they have to trek inland and stay for a time. So. We thought we could get married now, and not wait. I love him and he loves me and we have a month before the voyage and I worry about him sailing of course but it would be worse if we hadn’t made promises to each other first. Mother and Father …well I never said goodbye the right way and I want to make sure Kristoff knows exactly how I feel and what he is coming home to before he leaves.”

Elsa’s eyebrows shot up during this speech. She opened her mouth to interrupt, and then sighed, seeing that it was useless. 

“I think I know where to find Mother’s wedding dress.”

Anna jumped out of her chair, knocking it over in her haste to hug her sister.

—–

The wedding was small and beautiful. Right after, Elsa found a reason to travel further down the coast to oversee the business and Anna and Kristoff had the house to themselves. They saw the sunrise from the Widow’s Walk the morning after the wedding, after staying up all night. 

“It’s kind of a sad name, isn’t it?” Kristoff asking, standing behind her and wrapping his arms around her middle.

“Well I suppose. But I always thought of it as a hopeful place. A place to watch and wait and think about the good things that are coming.” 

Kristoff gripped her a little tighter and said “I think we have a lot of good things coming.” Anna turned into his kiss as the wind whipped her hair around them both.

—-

The month was quickly over. Anna saw the Maud off from the dock, then raced home to watch it as long as she could from the Widow’s Walk. Elsa stood next to her and held her hand. “You’ll see him coming back from this same spot before you know it.”

Months went by, and though Kristoff didn’t come home, Baby came and looked so much like Kristoff, Anna couldn’t believe it. “Who would have thought my handsome husband looks like a baby girl?!” 

Baby turned a year and Elsa said “Don’t you think it’s time to pick a name? She’s going to think her name is Baby.”

“Kristoff and I will name her together. I promised. He’ll be home soon and we’ll pick one out together.”

Baby turned two and called Anna “Mommy” and Elsa “Auntie” and herself “Baby.” She pointed out to sea and said “Dadda!”

“That’s right, Baby, Daddy will come home from the sea. He can’t wait to meet you.”

—–

Anna had imagined the "Maud" coming in to view so many times, and dreamed of it so many times, that when she actually saw it, she called for Elsa to make sure what she was seeing was real. Elsa came out just in time to catch her as she fainted. 

She roused to the sound of a foghorn and Elsa wiping her brow. She stood up quickly, then leaned heavily on her sister. It was "Maud," but not the gleaming, lacquered ship of which Kristoff was so proud. The crow’s nest was gone, and one of the masts was broken. The ship limped along, listing to one side, trying to catch wind with two large holes in the remaining sails. 

Anna ran inside, grabbed Baby from her crib, and hurried down to the dock. Elsa trailed behind, saying “You just fainted! Slow down!”

The ship had now docked, and Anna’s eyes passed over the departing sailors, eagerly looking for the one with his head tilted down just so, his shoulders squared against the cold. Kristoff stepped off the ship, bearded and gaunt, but still so Kristoff. He saw her and she felt as if her whole body was looking back at him. 

Baby waved and said “Sea! Dadda! Dadda from the sea!” Kristoff’s eyes left Anna’s and looked in wonder at the small child she was holding. He swallowed and stammered. “She’s, she’s ours. Our baby. What’s her name?”

Anna was nervous and not quite sure why. Would it be awkward to touch his shoulder, his arm? She did both. “I call her Baby. I’ve been waiting for you to get home so we can name her together. “

Kristoff gathered Baby and Anna in a tight hug. He burrowed his head into Anna’s hair and said “I’ve spent nights dreaming of your smell. Seeing your freckles in the stars. Hearing your laugh on the wind.” Anna sighed into him, nestling deeper. Baby squirmed and they all pulled a bit apart. Kristoff put his hands on Baby’s head. “I didn’t know to picture you. But I am so glad to know you now.”

Anna shifted Baby’s weight so she was closer to Kristoff. “So what should we call her?”

Baby rubbed her nose against Kristoff’s. “Anything but Maud,” he said.

**Author's Note:**

> A widow’s walk is a balcony thing on the top of a house along the coast. This takes place in the late 1800s and takes liberties with actual real world events and ship names.


End file.
